Lucky to be alive
When Sonny Cabatu left
Cabatu, 47, finished the Legends tour and was with friends in
After 10 minutes, Cabatu collapsed again, this time as he was about to enter a friend’s home. An ambulance came to rush Cabatu to the hospital.
As he was stretched out in the emergency room, Cabatu thought he wouldn’t live to see another day. The blood pressure gauge showed no reading. He was numb from the waist down. Something was wrong. He felt like sleeping but his friends told him to stay awake because there was a chance he couldn’t be revived.
Tests revealed Cabatu had a urinary tract infection that caused his white blood cells to shoot up to 25,000 where the normal range is 5,000 to 10,000. His red blood cells dropped precipitously, triggering shock that nearly wiped out his blood pressure.
Aggravating the situation was a battered spleen. When Cabatu blacked out for the second time, he fell with a thud and hurt his side. Because of his body weight, the spleen was damaged during the fall.
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As Cabatu stayed in the hospital for more tests, his immobility resulted in another problem. He developed an embolism and doctors saw two blood clots travel towards his heart in a life-threatening situation. To prevent the movement of the clots, doctors inserted a filter in his stomach.
Eventually, Cabatu regained his health. He was confined in the hospital for 18 days and lost 20 pounds. What would’ve killed him was the $250,000 medical bill but his friends arranged for a 100 percent subsidy.
Cabatu said he wouldn’t have pulled through if not for his friends and the Filipino medical staff at the
“I was in a room with one other patient and during my stay, they had three patient changes,” said Cabatu. “I don’t know what happened to my roommates, if they died or not. I didn’t want to know. The doctors and nurses took good care of me. They gave me lots of medicine for free. I learned how to inject myself in the stomach to dissolve my blood clots when I was released from the hospital. What probably saved me was my history as an athlete. God gave me new life and I owe it all to Him.”
Cabatu said when news of his hospitalization spread, he was dismayed by rumors that he had cancer or a bad liver or malfunctioning kidneys.
“The truth is I had an infection because of a virus,” said Cabatu. “It got very complicated when I had blood clots. Today, I’m taking my maintenance medicine for blood pressure, which is stable at 130 over 80. Doctors advised me not to play for five months until I’m fully recovered. I’ve already regained 10 pounds.”
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Cabatu is now back in town and after a long absence, returned to the PBA as a radio analyst last Sunday.
“I think I can still play and dominate an international father and son league with Jun-Jun (who plays for
“Jun-Jun and I will be competitive for sure. I know we can beat even Bill Walton and his son Luke. Bill is too old and his legs are too weak. Most big men can’t move as well as I can at my age.”
What about playing against his former coach Sonny Jaworski and his son Dodot?
Cabatu, with his impish smile, had no comment.
Throughout his ordeal, Cabatu never lost his sense of humor, which kept him going. Now that he’s on the way to complete recovery, Cabatu said he’s determined to make the most of his new lease on life.
Postscript: PBA statistics chief Fidel Mangonon said in the coming draft, Air21 has three first round picks negotiated from trades and Talk ‘N’ Text gained an extra first round slot which came from Coca-Cola in the Asi Taulava-Ali Peek trade …. Purefoods star James Yap is actively promoting Sencillo, which offers catering services for parties, events and meetings. For inquires,
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